Smarter than You Think
by Glue Project
Summary: Seto Birthday fic. His brother gives flying lessons to his laptop, and only Jou realizes that its his birthday.


Disclaimer: I own NOTHING in this fic. Excpet the plot. X3 So. Yeha.

This is a Seto birthday fic, to be continued when the muses come back. I wanted to at least post a bit of it on his birthday. So, enjoy.

* * *

Date : Monday, October 25th.  
  
Hmm. I wonder what will happen at school today. It's doubtless something will happen because it always does.  
  
As to what that something is, however, is the interesting part.  
  
It could be a test, the food that they serve at the cafeteria that day...or an argument.  
  
I tend to like the latter one best.  
  
Why?  
  
Because it's the only way I get to communicate with the mutt.  
  
The mutt, of course being the one and only Jounouchi Katsuya.  
  
It's kind of sad, really.  
  
Why?  
  
Because he's evidentially not as stupid as everyone is lead to believe.  
  
How do I, Kaiba Seto, of all people know this?  
  
Well, for one, he is the only one that can remain sparring words with me for over five minutes, no matter how juvenile those words are.  
  
Two, his writing is perfect. Neat, crisp little roman characters written horizontally across the paper. The teachers don't know that yet.  
  
Third and most stunning--his English vocabulary is extensive. I prodded him a bit too far in one fight and he started yelling back to me in English. Most surprisingly, I actually could understand that he was telling/yelling at me.  
  
When I mentioned it, he stuttered and switched back to Japanese, claiming that he'd just watched too many films in English.  
  
Right...I have yet to find a movie with the line 'Even though you may consider me as something supernumerary in my mannerisms, at least I'm more considerate than you!'  
  
We'll just let that slide, shall we? Even if the sentence is a bit...odd...he gets points for the words he used.  
  
I sigh and finish my coffee, getting ready for school and my first class of the day, English.  
  
One of the few classes that the mutt and I share.  
  
Hm. I wonder if he's going to follow me to my car after school again for our daily scuffle.  
  
I cringe at the sound of plastic and technology meeting marble, and my brother's overly-sweet voice.

* * *

Math. I hate math. Why do I need to know how much area is inside a box? That's what highly sophisticated programs are for.  
  
Hmm. Right. I still have to make that program. I'll make a note of that.  
  
The class room is set up oddly compared to the rest in this school. Instead of the neat little rows that teachers are so nit-picky about keeping straight, all the desks are lining the outside of the room, leaving a considerable amount of floorspace in the middle for her to walk around in. The desks are staggered into two rows, so that there isn't a row in front or behind anyone.  
  
She claimed that this way it held the both of best worlds. The students could each have their prized, 'last row' seat, while at the same time also having the dreaded front row seat as well.  
  
As it so happens, my desk is cornered next to the mutt's in such a way that the left corner of my desk touches his desk's right front corner.  
  
He's smart enough to ignore me during this class.  
  
He's smarter than he leads everyone to believe.  
  
"In this bigger size box, you can fit forty-nine of these boxes," the teacher held up a cd-shaped box, "into the bigger one."  
  
...What's she saying now? KaibaCorp is using the same sized boxes to ship the latest video game and I was told only forty-eight programs could be fit into it. Someone's going to pay...  
  
I'm not the only one thrown off by her answer.  
  
The mutt has his eyebrow quirked and is riffling through his math notes. Hm.  
  
I look down at my own pencil tip where the words being put into my ears by the teacher have leaked out onto the paper. Hm. Did she use this example before with different results?  
  
...No. The answer's the same...but something doesn't look right. Calculating the math in my head, I realize that in the second step of the problem there is a slight mistake. I can hear the clatter of a calculator hitting a desktop and can only assume that the mutt choose to use that to check the work.  
  
After punching seemingly random numbers into the small computer, he looks up in obvious confusion.  
  
The teacher looks on with a veiled look that neither of us really process.  
  
I throw Jounouchi a look that he obviously catches as he shrugs slightly and points at the calculator. He tilts it slightly so that I can see the digital '48' written on the device.  
  
I nod, ever so slightly, tap my math notes, and then twitch one of my fingers to my forehead.  
  
He nods slightly back.  
  
And then the shadow descends.  
  
We both look up slowly and I can hear Jou let out a distinct, muffled 'meep!'.  
  
"Is there a problem, gentlemen?"  
  
Hm. Evidentially, she's been warned by the other teachers as to our quarrels. Even so, this is the only class that I sit so close to him.  
  
Almost makes me wish I hadn't fought with him so much.  
  
Meh. Everything always starts in the past.  
  
I shift slightly in my seat. Yes, me, fidgeting, under the harsh gaze of a teacher. Then again, Jou is shrinking into his seat. Sounds like a good idea... "No Miss, for once, I think we both agree on something."  
  
There is a collective gasp all throughout the room, the noticeably most loud one from Jou himself. Hm. Is he leading again?  
  
He fidgets in his seat. I really wish he would stop doing that. Or would that be hypocritical? "Well, yes," he stumbles, having recovered from his 'shock'. "Shouldn't it be forty-eight?"  
  
Then she does something that scares me. Yes, scares.  
  
She smiles.  
  
Frightening.  
  
You see, this teacher only grins when she's about to hand out a detention. And from gauging her smile, we're being expelled.  
  
Her smile widens as she moves to the middle of the room to address the rest of the room. "When I gave you notes on...Thursday, I did something to see if anyone actually paid attention in my class. I gave a false answer. It turned up with no results. No one paid attention. So, I thought I would try again. On a Monday no less." Here, her grin widened to a point that I didn't think was possible. Cheshire cat, move over. "This time, the two rivals of this school actually agreed that the answer I gave was flawed." She paused and then grinned again. "Fifty points to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw!"  
  
The class sweatdropped.  
  
Jou fidgeted in his seat and said, to me, "Have luck in Gryffindor."  
  
Hm. Was he just implying/joking that he could be smarter than me? Interesting. ...Or is it a compliment?  
  
I have to add 'implied jokes' to the list. And that he can/will/does read/remember books.  
  
Hm. Almost forgot. 'Can read hints as well.'

* * *

Lunch. In my opinion, the best period of the day. My black laptop is sitting on my lap, whirling away. My back is against a tree, and the sunlight is glaring off the screen in an annoying way. Oh well. I can work around that.  
  
Right now, I'm checking stocks. KaibaCorp is up three points from this morning, with Industrial Illusions going down twenty points. Heh. I think I heard that Pegasus held a conference this morning. People must have thought his company is going to tank soon. Funny Bunny indeed.  
  
Bored, I find the stocks for Dell.  
  
...Interesting. Their stocks have gone up a substantial bit. Why is that? I checked them this morning...  
  
...how did they know I bought a new computer this morning? Just because I purchased a new Dell laptop with wireless abilities doesn't mean anything.  
  
Only that the vice-president of KaibaCorp decided to see if his big brother's laptop could fly...  
  
"WATCH OUT!"  
  
The voice that warns me gives me enough time to bring the nearest solid object to my face to protect it before I hear a large CRACK! as a kickball rams into the object in my hands.  
  
Great. My new laptop.  
  
I throw the ruined plastic and technology to the side before looking around to find whoever kicked the ball at me and consequently warned me as well. I'm not angry as much as slightly miffed. I would be pouting if my emotionless mask allowed such a thing.  
  
It wasn't as if I had the laptop long enough for anything to actually be on there. Five hours isn't a very long time.  
  
Hm. There's Jou with an 'OH SHIT!' look on his face. And he's actually starring at me. Then to the...two bits of laptop, then to the black-with-red-flames kickball, then back to me. He gulps and treads forward.  
  
If it weren't for the fact that his face is pale, I would just assume that he's foolhardy and doesn't know when to give up. He gulps again.  
  
"I...I'm sorry...didn't...mean too..." His voice trails off in nervousness.  
  
I sigh. "Don't worry about it."  
  
That stops him in the middle of his stuttering apology. He blinks. "What?"  
  
I close my eyes to gather all patience that I might need for this. Honestly, he has to learn when to not lead and play foolish. "I didn't have anything on there anyway. Doesn't matter. That's the third one this week."  
  
He tilts his head in confusion. "Third? But...it's the-"  
  
"Second day of the week, I know." I pause with a slightly defeated sigh. "Mokuba hid my normal laptop yesterday, and this morning gave flying lessons to the one I bought to replace it."  
  
Jou gives a slightly hesitant smile. "He really wants you to take a break from work, doesn't he?"  
  
I rest my head against the tree, my eyes closed against the rays of light that filter through the leaves. "Suppose so." I'm drifting asleep...  
  
I can hear the frown in his voice as he asks, "Isn't today the 25th?"  
  
A single eyelid cracking open warily, I answer, "Yes...?" I don't like the sudden smile that spreads itself across his face. To quote Jou from a few minutes ago, 'Oh SHIT!', extra emphasis on the latter part. There is NO way that he can know-  
  
"So what's wrong with taking time off of work for your birthday?"  
  
-that. "How. The. Hell?"  
  
Yes, very good. Very mature.  
  
Note the sarcasm.  
  
He just grins, picks up the kickball, says sorry one more time, wishes a happy birthday, and walks away.  
  
And may I just add, 'What the hell is going on today?'

* * *

Hm. End of school. Finally.  
  
Jou's the only one perceptive enough to actually realize that it's my birthday today. From all previous experiences today, that doesn't seem as sad and depressing as it would have a year ago. I guess I've reformed my opinions of one person today. Jou isn't an idiot.  
  
But then why lead everyone to believe...?  
  
I sigh as I spot my bright yellow Jeep with black cloth top (C-J7, by the way. Restored and from the Eighties.) Jou is usually leaning against the grill whenever he beats me to my vehicle. Turning around, he's not behind me.  
  
With a sigh, I open the cloth door and slide into the left-side seat. Not even bothering to get my keys, I turn the ignition bit and the engine roars to life.  
  
Throwing a last glance at the school and now empty parking lot, I drive the ancient, bumpy Jeep out and towards home.  
  
Mokuba doesn't understand why I wanted this 'rust bucket', as he dubbed it, instead of a new one. One thing: the new ones have round headlights and rectangle turning lights on the fenders. The old ones have the round headlights, and then the turning lights are circles beneath them, taking out a little bit of the grill. I don't like the Y-J's at all. Square lights, headlights and turning signals both.  
  
I do have to add, though, that this Jeep wasn't in the best of condition when I bought it. Since I purchased it, it got a new fiberglass body to replace the old brown one, a new engine, four new (bigger) tires, a yellow paint job, and a cloth top. I still am debating on whether or not I'm going to get the paint done brown again and finding a decal to complete the 'Golden Eagle' look it one bore.  
  
Scratch that. That's why I bought this one. Brown and Golden Eagle it is.  
  
...Crap. It just started raining, large drops splashing onto the windshield and finding their way inside.  
  
"Right, made to keep rain off, not out," I mutter. I switch on the windshield wipers in hopes that they'll work for once. They do. "Yes," I hiss.  
  
Without looking, I readjust the rearview mirror as it has a tendency of falling downwards. I don't want a view of the center console.  
  
My cell phone suddenly decides to put in an appearance (vocally, of course) and I carefully extract the slim device from my blazer pocket. Being careful as to how I grip the wheel, I flip open the phone without looking at the caller id. "Hello?"  
  
"Wonder where you're laptop is yet?"  
  
I sigh. "Hi Mokuba." He giggles hyperactively from the other side. "Whoever let you have sugar, be sure to fire them first thing in the morning."  
  
"Aw, Niisama! And here I was going to tell you how to get your laptop back..."  
  
I wait expectantly, waving absentmindedly to the owner of the Jeep just on the other side of the road. "Well?" I ask finally. I tap the gas gauge. It says that I have three-fours of a tank yet. Which means that it's close to empty.  
  
"You have to remain without your laptop for the rest of the day, including any you might have bought since this mornings ... 'flying lesson'."  
  
I sigh. "I've given up on laptop's for the moment, Mokuba." I tap the gas gauge again, remembering that it gets fourteen miles to the gallon on a good day. (I don't usually make the conversion back to kilometers since the odometer is in miles anyway.) I then readjust the rearview mirror before lifting my gaze back to the windshield. "Shit."  
  
"What?" Mokuba sounds worried.  
  
I let out a sound halfway between a sigh, a sob, and an angry exclamation. "The damn windshield wipers stopped again." I pause for a second, looking what I can through the rapidly hazing window. "I've got to go Mok'. Bye." I click the device shut before he has a chance to reply.  
  
I may love my brother, but I think getting home safely is a bit more important than listening to his reply.  
  
With a grimace I remember that I forgot my seatbelt.  
  
Looming out of nowhere, I see the glaring light of a gas station and hurry to drive under the canopy. With a relieved sound, I switch off the now dysfunctional windshield wipers as the engine sputters and dies from the lack of gas. "Just made it," I mutter.  
  
Flicking the ignition bit, still keyless, I reach for my wallet safely locked in the center console. Taking out the correct credit card, I exit the yellow vehicle.  
  
Humming after I've started to fill the hungry Jeep, I gaze through the plastic windows boredly.  
  
...Wait. The black seats shouldn't be blue.  
  
Leaving the nozzle in the rear, I waltz up to the drivers seat, and carefully re-enter, fingers gripping the fabric cover as I peer over the seat.  
  
Hm. There's a reason why Jou wasn't waiting outside my Jeep at school.  
  
"Hello Mutt."

* * *

I kinda don't know what to type up next. ;; Er. Yeah. So that's it for now. Help?

Glue


End file.
